What We Left Unsaid

“Get out.”

He was standing, paused in the doorway, his jacket in one of his tightly-clenched fists and his other hand still gripping the door’s handle. Furious green eyes were locked on her, undoubtedly trying to will her off of his bed and out of the room, but if one look of his had had any real power, she would have been dead years ago. And she was very much alive, legs crossed comfortably and head propped up against several pillows and the headboard, a wicked little smirk on her face as she titled her head and looked right back at him, not appearing even the least bit intimidated by his anger.

“Rinaldi, get the fuck out of my room!”

She clicked her tongue in disapproval. “Manners, manners!” she chided. “It was only -- what? -- a few days ago that you were begging me to stay in here, remember?”

The dark-haired man gave a humorless laugh, stepping fully into the room and throwing his jacket rather aggressively onto a nearby chair before turning his body so that he was fully facing the woman. “That’s why you’re here? That’s too damn bad, Barbie. I guess you shouldn’t have been such a lying little bitch, then. Get out.”

With a little sigh, the blonde rolled her eyes, waving an exasperated hand in the air. “Really, Baker! If that didn’t work the first to times, why do you suddenly think that I’m going to listen now? Believe me,” she stressed, running a hand through her hair, “I’d love to, but unfortunately I can’t, because -- apparently -- we need to have a little discussion.”

He didn’t appear impressed. “And go against years of beautiful precedent? I’d rather not. Now,” he urged as he rather dramatically stepped back toward the door, pulling it open wide and sweeping his arm out in a gesture toward the hallway, “why don’t you leave before I have to make you leave?”

“Cute,” was all the woman said in response, before throwing her legs over the side of the bed and finally hopping up off of it. She walked straight toward the doorway as so ordered, a sarcastic little smile on her face as he sent one right back at her and stepped away, apparently trusting that she’d shut the door on her way out. And she did shut it, only she didn’t leave the room first.

“Damn it, Rinaldi, I’m really not in the mood for this now!”

“Neither am I, Mate, but I guess we’re both shit out of luck right now. We need to talk.”

“I think I’m going to veto that, just like you did every time I tried to bring up a certain conversation. Leave.”

“Baker!”

Anger obvious in his every move, Zacky closed the distance between them slowly, his gaze never leaving hers as he stepped up to her so that their bodies were nearly touching. “Now is not a good time,” he stated, stressing each word and allowing his gaze to glow amber for a moment before draining back to green. “Come back in a few days, and maybe we can have your little discussion. But I’m warning you, Rinaldi: you do not want to piss me off right now. I am walking on a very thin line right now and I--”

“And that’s actually what we need to talk about,” she interrupted, lifting a hand to patronizingly pat him on the shoulder. Ignoring the fierce growl of protest that sounded from him as he jerked backwards a step and out of her reach, she spun around on her heels and made her way over to one of the armchairs, falling into it easily. “See, you don’t need to warn me that you’re feeling... temperamental. News flash: the entire pack has noticed, and now they’re asking questions. So, like I said, we need to talk. Do you want to tell me what’s got your panties in a twist?”

He didn’t blink as he glared back at her, arms crossed over his chest and jaw set tightly. “Go to hell.”

Ava nodded in consideration. “I thought not. Then, why don’t we start with you telling me what the fuck you told Matt?”

The guitarist’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I really don’t have time to sit here and try and find out.”

“Let me spell it out for you then, shall I?” she offered, a falsely pleasant smile on her lips as she glanced down at her nails for a moment. “Matt’s being quiet, and he only does that when he’s trying really hard not to say something. And then there’s you, practically diving off the deep end all of a sudden, after we’d been... coexisting just fine for a little while. And all you were going on about was how you knew that I could feel the bond, too. You fucking told Matt that we were sleeping together, didn’t you?”

“Next to each other,” the man was quick to correct. “But no, I didn’t tell him anything about--”

”Bullshit!” she snapped. “I’m not a fucking idiot, you son of--”

“He walked in on us, Rinaldi! He fucking saw us and I had-- fuck it. Fuck it! I don’t even care what you think. Discussion over. Leave.”

Blue eyes narrowed as the blonde pursed her lips, clearly unhappy. “Discussion not over, Baker. What specifically did you tell him in this little conversation of yours? Exactly how much damage did you do?”

She was sitting up straighter in her seat, clearly more alert, but he was the exact opposite as he leaned back comfortably against the wall, propping up a leg and crossing his arms over his chest. A little smirk played across his lips. “You don’t need to worry about what I said to him, Princess; that’s not an issue. What’s more important, is that in my little conversation, he... reminded me of exactly how much of a bitch you really are. So I’m sorry if I’m not up for playing nice with you today -- or any day in the foreseeable future, really -- but you’re just going to have to get the fuck over it. Last warning: get out.”

For a moment, it appeared as if she was simply going to sit there, glaring at him and pretending to have not heard a word he said, but just as he took a threatening step forward, she pushed up off of the couch. She didn’t head toward the door like he had demanded, though. Instead, she only took a few steps forward -- just enough so that there wasn’t a coffee table and another chair between them -- and then stood her ground, fist clenching and unclenching at her side. “No; this conversation isn’t over yet.”

”Rinaldi,” Zacky stressed through clenched teeth, his eyes flashing amber again in one last, silent warning.

“Then fucking make me, Baker!” she exclaimed with exasperation obvious in her tone and in the way she waved her hands in front of her frustratedly. “I’m sick and fucking tired of being hounded by everyone in this fucking pack, and I’m not leaving until I can at least tell them something to get them off of my goddamn back. You’re pissed off because I made you sleep alone, is that it? Is that why you stormed out of the tub like a little bitch? Because I’m not completely miserable like you are all of the goddamn time? Is that it? I told you to just lock the instincts away!”

“Some of us aren’t capable of being a heartless, unfeeling bitch. That’s pretty much just you.”

For just a moment, the woman stilled, looking legitimately taken aback. Her surprise didn’t keep her frozen for long, however. “Are you fucking kidding me or are you really that blind?” she snapped. “Unfeeling!? How the hell do you explain all of the favors I’ve done for you, then?”

He didn’t even blink. “Favors sure is a funny term for them, isn’t it? I would’ve gone with convenient opportunities to benefit yourself.”

“I gave you the goddamn tea! I--”

“You’re blackmailing me with it, or have you forgotten that again? Just like you blackmailed me with the sleeping arrangement, even though you were getting just as much out of it as I was.”

She still had that same incredulous look on her face, though a good amount more fury in her eyes. “I didn’t blackmail you with that at all, you offered, and I didn’t stop you. But forget it! What about dragging you out of that hotel room and helping you out, hmm? And what about giving you permission to go run around and do whatever the hell you want to do? Where’s the fucking benefit for me in that?”

“You didn’t really have a choice, though, did you? Don’t pretend the guys ever would have let you leave me in the hotel room. And while you’re at it, don’t pretend you didn’t benefit giving me permission! It sure got you off the hook, didn’t it?”

She could only scoff, rolling her eyes and flipping her hair back over her shoulder indignantly as she glared over at the smirking male. She was silent for a moment, before finally tilting up her head after a minute and placing her hands on her his, clearly proud with herself. “I took the blame for not immediately telling anyone about the whole silver thing.”

He rolled his eyes right back at her. “You owed me.”

“God damn it, Baker!” she suddenly snapped, eyes flashing amber for only a second before fading as she spun around, grabbed a coaster off of the nearby end table, and threw it straight at him. She didn’t appear surprised when he caught it easily. “For fuck’s sake! What can I say that you don’t have an answer for, huh? What else do I need to do?”

“You haven’t done anyth--”

“Do I need to give you the damn recipe, is that it?”

“Fuck yeah, you do!”

Irritated blue eyes met determined green ones, and the woman only growled in obvious frustration. “But that wouldn’t change anything, would it? That’d just be another example of me doing something because I didn’t have a choice, wouldn’t it?”

He only fixed a long, hard stare on her, eyebrow arching pointedly. “If the shoe fits...”

She could do nothing more than stare heatedly right back at him. “You are such a fucking idiot, you know that?” she questioned, giving an irritated snort and a shake of her head. “Unfeeling, huh? You want to see how fucking unfeeling I am?” Obviously pissed, the blonde stepped closer to her mate, her movement slow and predatory, until she stopped just a few feet in front of him. “I like you, Zacky. You’re exactly what I’m not supposed to want, and that’s probably why, but I don’t really care about that, because for whatever goddamn reason, I like you!”

Her words had the guitarist freezing, but not because he was simply stunned by her admission. No, the look of horror and then absolute rage that shifted across his features was clearly a reaction to much more than just the idea that she might have liked him. Without wasting a second, he closed the distance between them, one of his hands flying out and grabbing her by the throat. A second later, and he was slamming her so hard into the reinforced wall that it dented like soft clay. “Is this fucking funny to you?” he shouted, eyes flickering between amber and his usual green. “Is this what gets you off?!”

Blue eyes widened as the blonde was slammed back against the wall another time, lights flashing in her eyes at the impact. She opened her mouth to shout something at him, but he had both hands around her throat and he was gripping her tighter than he had ever before. And despite how absolutely furious he was, despite how much he clearly wanted to shift into a wolf, he managed to hold himself together and remain completely in control of his actions.

“Well guess what, Bitch? You don’t have anyone here to do your dirty work for you this time!” he roared, managing to, without even loosening his grip on her throat, pull her forward and then shove her onto the floor so that he was in a position of even more control. He didn’t bat an eyelash at the table and lamp that clamored to the ground in the process.

She was quick to lash out at him and kick and twist and try to switch their position into literally anything that would have given her even the slightest bit of an advantage, but he seemed ready for all of them. He was still thinking rationally, and he wasn’t being deprived of oxygen. And so, when her hands lifted to his throat and she continued to twist and lash out, he didn’t even bother to try and block her. Not only were her actions far too unorganized to do any real harm, but the effects of the lack of oxygen were clearly starting to wear on her.

“And guess what, Princess? You don’t have anyone here to save you, either.” Zacky wasn’t oblivious to the stench of fear that had quickly begun to fill the room, nor was he oblivious to the little drops of salty liquid that had started to slip from the blonde’s icy eyes as she had switched her hands’ focus from his neck to his own hands. Vengeance gleaming in his eyes, the dark haired man simple smirked, leaning down and pressing an insulting little kiss to her cheek, before allowing his lips to hover over her ear for a moment. “Stop fucking crying, Baby,” he whispered harshly, his tone more than mocking as he used the endearment, “because after how many times I warned you that you did not want to fuck with me today, you have no one to blame but yourself. And you know what? You have nothing to cry over, anyways, because I promise you that you can’t even begin to imagine what real pain is. Luckily for you, I don’t have days to teach you what it is, so be grateful that this will be nice and quick!”

As her vision blurred completely, Ava continued to claw uselessly at the hands on her throat, feeling anything but grateful. Surprised was still etched on her features, as she realized that not only was this not anything like one of their usual little battles, but he actually intended to kill her. Out of all of the options she had had in regards to having a mate, the one choice she had always been absolutely sure was her secret, safest option, the one she had stupidly chosen to go with, turned out to be her deadliest. And with the insane humor that comes with being on the verge of unconsciousness, she couldn’t help but be amused. Had she any air in her lungs or any way to do so in the first place, she would’ve laughed. But as it was, she only smiled as she felt her hands falling from their defensive position, her body loosening and relaxing into the blackness even as that tight grip around her throat remained.

Her ears barely registered the sounds that followed her bitter thoughts, and even as she heard the shouting and the distinctive sound of someone being slammed into the wall or the floor or some other hard surface, she only lied there, not moving, not breathing, and getting closer and closer to that peaceful darkness.

She felt someone shaking her shoulders, yelling at her to do something, that she needed to do something, but she didn’t know what it was that they wanted her to do, and she didn’t want to do it, anyways. She barely felt the sting on her cheek that meant someone had slapped her, but she didn’t even flinch at the contact, only feeling it several moments after the fact, and even then only barely. She was far too relaxed to be offended, even as they continued to shake her and yell at her. Breathe! They were telling her to breathe, and they weren’t doing it in a nice way, either. She wanted to tell them to shut up and leave her be, and she wanted to ask them how the fuck she was supposed to breathe when someone was strangling her, but she couldn’t even remember how to go about doing that.

And then all of a sudden, air was being forced down her throat, someone was pounding on her back, and she was being rolled onto her side. She coughed violently, her body shaking and her throat burning as she gasped for air, barely able to hear the shouting that surrounded her over her own wheezing. After a few seconds, though, the brutal pounding on her back transformed into a soothing rubbing, and she was lifted from the ground and pulled into strong arms.

“Get him fucking out of here before I kill him!”

“Fucking try me, Gates!”

“Don’t be stupid, Zacky! Now what the fuck is going on? What did she do?!”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Shads?! He damn near killed her, and you’re asking what she did?!”

By that point in time, Ava’s breathing had returned to a loud, shaky but stable rate, and she managed to open her eyes, spots swirling in her vision for a minute before the objects in the room slowly settled down and stopped their spinning.

“He wouldn’t attack her for no reason, Brian, and you fucking know that. She did something!”

Blinking several times, the blonde turned her head just the slightest bit, gaze falling to the arms that were wrapped around her and instantly piecing together that it was the lead guitarist that was holding her. And as her gaze traveled upwards, she could easily make out that Matt and Zacky were standing there across the room, the alpha looking absolutely furious and the beta leaning up against the wall in complete disregard of everything that was going on.

That was, until he noticed her blue eyes had landed on him. At that point, he growled viciously, kicking off of the wall and looking as if he was about to lunge across the room at her. “Don’t you fucking dare look at me!” he roared, before being shoved back into the wall by his alpha.

Ava wasted no time in averting her gaze, and Brian quickly shuffled her around until she was sitting in his lap facing him, her head resting on his shoulder and the two standing completely out of her view. The lead guitarist was shaking in his own outrage, but he didn’t dare release his hold on his lifelong friend. “Get him out of here, Shads!”

“Back off, Zacky! Ava, what the fuck did you do?!”

“Matt! What the fuck is wrong with you?! She’s scared to fucking death right now!”

As tears threatened to spill from her tightly shut eyes, the blonde in question shook lightly, shame and fear blending together. She hadn’t even scented the stench that was still coming from her, since she had yet to try to breathe out of her nose, but she was sure it was there, assaulting all of them and no doubt pleasing Zacky beyond belief.

“Shut up, Brian!” Matt growled violently. “Ava! Answer me!”

“I don’t know!” she managed to choke out after wincing at the alpha’s tone, her own voice weak and hoarse as her throat flamed up in protest. The coughing that followed her words did nothing to cover up the enraged snarling that erupted from across the room.

“That’s fucking bullshit! She quoted the note, Matt! She quoted the note!”

Ava wasn’t oblivious to the slightly desperate, completely insane tone Zacky was using, nor was she oblivious to the sharp catch in the larger man’s breath that signaled Matt had somehow managed to crack whatever crazy code Zacky had been using. “What note?” she found herself hoarsely asking, the pain in her throat instantly flaring again. She heard another loud snarl and another thud of a man being shoved into the wall.

“Shads!” Zacky cried out desperately, sounding as if he was in actual pain by being contained to the corner he was trapped in.

“Alright, alright! Come on, Zee, let’s get out of here. Brian! Make sure she stays the fuck away from him, or we’re going to let him have at her, you hear?”

The lead guitarist snarled, quivering in anger as he tightened his hold on the small, feminine frame. “You better not let it come to that, Matt, or I won’t just stop at Zacky!”

“Don’t threaten me, Brian!” the larger man snarled, before clapping his hand against something fabric-covered and moving toward the door, the other guitarist apparently with him. “Come on, Zee,” he repeated, his tone significantly softer when he spoke to his beta before the both of them took their leave.

The remaining man growled low in his throat, cursing his alpha as he resisted the urge to chase after and get his hands around Zacky’s throat, instead choosing to continue to rub the back of the woman in his arms. Nuzzling into her shoulder, he blinked his own eyes shut, his heart aching as he tried to understand why everything in his pack was suddenly going to hell. Hearing the soft sobbing of the smaller woman, he sighed, inhaling and only smelling the fear that still stained the room.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on with Matt, but he didn’t mean it, Ava. He loves you. And no one is going to let anything happen to you, okay? I promise!”